Revisiting Grape-Nuts

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How does one celebrate Mother’s Day? You try a bowl of a cereal that your mother would tell you to eat. I’ve long had a hate-hate relationship with Grape-Nuts, because it tasted awful to me as a child and it made me question whether I have a refined enough palate as an “adult.” My introduction to the cereal occurred when I was around 6 years old. I remember when I would stay over at my grandma’s that she would eat a bowl of Grape-Nuts each morning. One day I wanted to try it. That day could have been the genesis of my enjoyment for sweet, sugary, unhealthy, cartoon character cereal. At that time, I vowed I’d never eat Grape Nuts again, but here we are today. The things we do to generate content for a blog.

Aesthetics

The box is more friendly than I remember from the 80s and early 90s. The only thing grape about the cereal is the box. At a quick glance, the fine pieces of whole grain cereal look like dried up bits of fried ground beef. I will say that I enjoyed the lovely recipe for adding Grape-Nuts to make a parfait. Adding Grape-Nuts to yogurt seems to be a very common and popular practice, from what I hear. Side note: Grape-Nuts contains neither grapes or nuts…Snackability

I’m giving Grape-Nuts 1 spoon for snackability, only because I couldn’t give it anything less. Due to the fine pieces of cereal, it is far too hard to eat dry, without mixing it in yogurt. For one, your hand would serve as a sifter, so each bite you take would be like you’re panning for gold. Secondly, the cereal dry is actually about as hard as gold. If you snack on grape Nuts, just by themselves, then I don’t know what to say, other than I’ll pray for you. Eating a handful of this cereal dry has to be like the farm dog who enjoys a spring afternoon chewing on gravel

Structural Integrity

Without a doubt, if there’s one category where Grape-Nuts is the best it’s in structural integrity. These small pieces of oats are so dense that they absorb milk AND STILL are crunchy for a good while after. The cereal-per-square-inch of the box has to be more than any other. It reminds me of holding a box of minute rice. Don’t quote me on this, but I’m pretty sure you could use Grape-Nuts as part of footings for a building and be stable during an earthquake. With each bite I take, I feel like I’ve ate a food pyramid’s worth of grains.

Cereal Concept

As a concept goes, it’s as bland as you get. It’s a box full of whole grain and nothing but the grain. In essence, it’s a $4 box of colon cleansing gravel masquerading as cereal. But, if you’re into eating super healthy cereal, then I suppose this is right up your alley.

Flavor

Upon opening the box, it’s as if they captured the smell of the cardboard and packaged it. Once I began eating it, it really didn’t have a flavor. To me, it was just bland, crunchy and tasted like plain granola. I was half-tempted to add sugar, but I wanted to keep this review’s integrity in mind. The texture and taste just wasn’t for me. Each bite I took had me feeling healthier and I didn’t like it. Call me old fashion, but if I’m eating cereal, it’s going to be not-so-healthy.

Final Thoughts

I gave Grape-Nuts another chance and what I took away from the experience is that I still do not like it. It still tastes like I remembered and the texture of it is so rough and tough.Think of Grape-Nuts as the grizzled, old, rough-around the edges uncle to Cap’n Crunch. He has a heart of gold, but you can just tell he’s seen some stuff during his lifetime.

When I want a healthy cereal to eat, I will find a different option in the cereal aisle.

Bob Ross Cereal is a Bowl of Feels for a Hefty Price

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How does one continue to keep the legacy alive of the late, great Bob Ross? You create a cereal in his honor, of course. New York-based FYE, maker of various pop culture-themed cereals paid homage to the late painter and television host with its exclusive Bob Ross: The Joy of Cereal. So pick out that afro, grab a brush (or spoon in this case) and let’s get to work making happy accidents and trees.

Aesthetics

Like most of these novelty cereals, the packaging is typically the star. After all, it plays a key role in grabbing your eye and making you spend $9.99 on a box of Bob Ross cereal. (that and having a cereal review blog where you feel like you’d be doing readers a disservice if you didn’t buy it.) The box features the smiling face of good ol’ Bob situated with his weapon of choice in hand and in front of a mountainous landscape.The cereal itself isn’t anything to write home about. It’s basically Lucky Charms, but instead of magically delicious, it’s more happily delicious, The marshmallows themes are more fun than those found in Lucky Charms. For instance, you have your classic “happy little trees,” “lovely little bushes” and “happy little accidents”  that resemble a pink silhouette of Yoda’s noggin.In addition to showing you what the cereal looks like, it offers a positivity paint palette on the back of the box for that extra pick-me-up that we all need.

Snackability

I give Bob Ross cereal two spoons for snackability, mainly low marshmallow to toasted oats ratio. I suppose, if you enjoy eating regular Cheerios and with a hint of sugary goodness then this is right up your alley. However, for once, I think this cereal could use more marshmallows. 

Structural Integrity

With any cereal based off toasted oats, structural integrity is going to be a non-factor. The oats soak up milk like a ShamWow. So, once in milk, you only have a few minutes before the crunch of the cereal begins to lessen and you’re left with a soggy bowl of happy little marshmallows. The only thing that saves this cereal is the fact that the toasted oats are small, perhaps reducing the amount of porous space it haves, unlike that Caticorn cereal I reviewed a while back.

 

Cereal Concept

I’m ranking the concept as four spoons only because the concept centers around Bob Ross, and if you can’t enjoy or appreciate Bob Ross than you may be unAmerican. He’s a national treasure. I never learned how to paint, watching him put his acrylic oils to canvas, but I learned you can make something good out of any mistakes or accidents.

Flavor

The taste of Bob Ross cereal (wow, that sentence could started to read a lot differently without the addition of the word “cereal”) is a familiar one. As mentioned earlier, it’s basically generic Lucky Charms, but with fun-themed marshmallows that tie into The Joy of Painting. However, more marshmallows would have been preferred, as I had to fish some out of the box to make my bowl of cereal look somewhat presentable. Is Bob Ross cereal magically delicious? No. Bob Ross cereal is a mouthful of positivity and nostalgia that helps you set forth on your day to make friends with trees and become one with nature.

Final Thoughts

Bob Ross cereal is everything you’d think it would and should be. It’s simplistic, yet tells a story of the inspiration behind it. The cereal isn’t groundbreaking. The recipe of oats and marshmallows is as old as that mystery bag of meat that is tucked deeply away in your freezer that you forgot about. I would say this cereal is for fans of Bob Ross who want this as a collector’s item, rather than your average consumer of breakfast cereals. So save yourself $7 or $8 and buy yourself a box of regular Lucky Charms or the generic Malt-o-Meal version, unless you are just wanting this cereal based on novelty alone. With all this being said, I will leave you with this great halloween costume from my friend/coworker’s dog.

Bust a Nutter Butter Box Open

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Growing up, I remember the idea of making cookies into a cereal was a dream come true. Then I ate Cookie Crisp and was forever disappointed that it didn’t taste like cookies and milk. Thankfully, Nutter Butter cereal has restored my faith in the idea of the taste of cookies as cereal. Why it took nearly 50 years (Nutter Butter cookies were introduced in 1969) for this to happen, I don’t know. Anyway, let’s dig in to the review.

Aesthetics

It’s all about brand continuity, and the packaging is similar to how you’d find Nutter Butter cookies. From the font to the colors, to the claim of this cereal being made with REAL peanut butter. (side note: I am always skeptical of any time you have to capitalize words for emphasis. Or, like a used car dealership that has “honest” in the name. But I digress.)

The cereal itself does a nice job of being shaped like a peanut. Coincidentally, Sour Patch Kids cereal is also shaped oddly similar. It must be due to both being made by Post Cereals and using the same cereal-shape mold.

Snackability

Nutter Butter cereal does nicely as a quick snack. I’ve eaten more of it dry than I have in milk. The consistent, good-sized shape of the cereal makes it easy to handle and provides a satisfying crunch. The only thing that kept it from getting five spoons from me is that after a little time, the peanut butter taste and the coating/dusting on the cereal can be tiresome.

 

Structural Integrity

For the first time in my reviews on this site, I will say the structural integrity of Nutter Butter cereal is so good that letting it sit in milk for a little bit to soften a tad is probably best. The morsels are pretty dense, which can make the jaw a little tired from chewing. It’s not as dense and tiring as eating Churros cereal dry though. That’s a hardness on a whole different level.

Sorry, I’ve been rewatching The Office again.

Cereal Concept

Post Cereals continues to add zany cereals to its roster. From Sour Patch Kids to chicken and waffles ti Hostess Donettes and Hostess Honey Buns. There might not be a snack or candy safe from being made into a cereal. I think Post did a great job executing Nutter Butter cereal though. From replicating the peanut butter taste to the crunch of a cookie, it all falls together in a bowl of perfect harmony. I will say this though, please Post Cereals, I beg you not to ever do a circus peanut cereal. My mouth, nay the world, doesn’t need that sort of atrocity.

Flavor

It doesn’t even take a bite of Nutter Butter cereal to know what you’re getting yourself into. As mentioned earlier, Post Cereals did a solid job of making this cereal taste like eating a miniature Nutter Butter cookie. I’m not sure how much cereal you would have to eat to match the calories in one of those cookies, but nevertheless the taste is similar. Even when you add milk to the cereal (yes, I add milk after pouring the cereal into the bowl and not vice versa), the flavor isn’t diluted like what occurs with most other cereals.

Final Thoughts

Nutter Butter cereal was a pleasant surprise, and one I’d recommend trying. I figured it would taste like peanut butter, but unlike other peanut butter cereals, this one actually tasted like peanut butter: a wild concept, I know. If you don’t like the taste of peanut butter then this cereal won’t be for you. If you have a peanut allergy then this cereal may not be for you, since it contains peanuts, which it states in bold on the nutrition label. Just be prepared that when you first open the bag, that aroma of peanut butter will come at your face faster than a bad axe throw. You’ve been warned.

Peep This Cereal Review

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If you know me, you know I have a strong disdain for Peeps –the little, puffy marshmallow pile of hot garbage. So, when there was a Peeps cereal created, people began asking/tagging me about a review. Because I’m a man of high character, I had to do what was right –skip the review and find a proxy. Enter the Peeps cereal review tribute, Kayla.

Hi there! Joe’s coworker Kayla here, or for the purposes of this blog, you can just call me Special KayKay. What are my qualifications? I’m the mother of two elementary school boys. We go through roughly eight boxes of cereal a week. Also, I’m constantly starving at work, so I frequently stop by Joe’s desk to munch on the crumbs of Caticorn, Chicken and Waffles or whatever else he’s naïve enough to leave unattended.  I’m perfect for this current review because I’m a sucker for novelty foods (name a Coca-Cola flavor and I’ve tried it, probably with rum), and I have strong opinions about Easter-themed food. I am strongly PRO black jelly bean. (Joe here, I have to interject after that black jelly bean statement and say that’s gross. Maybe I made a mistake entrusting Kay Kay? Maybe she’ll redeem herself? Let’s keep reading to find out.)

When it comes to the sugary sweet season of marshmallowy awesomeness, you might as well call me Little Bo Peep. Now let’s get on with the Peep Show.

Aesthetics

If you have kids, good luck getting past the cereal aisle without them spying this brightly colored box. It’s as festive as an Easter bonnet with a consistent color palette of yellow, hot pink and blue both inside and outside the box. The cereal itself looks like smaller

Froot Loops dotted with round white marshmallows (by the way It was only recently that I realized that it wasn’t actually marshmEllows. Mind blown!)

I get the impression the circular marshmallows are supposed to represent eggs (it is that time of year), but I would imagine their manufacture is less complicated than an ovoid. That’s a real word.

The colorful Os are dotted with something white. One of the greatest things about a Peep is its appearance. The cereal version doesn’t quite live up.

Snackability

When you first open the box of Peeps, the artificially, sugary marshmallow aroma is almost overwhelming. It’s like a cheap knockoff of one of Strawberry Shortcake’s friends. 

The box boasts it is “Marshmallow Flavored Cereal” and it’s not a lie. It looks like it should taste fruity. Don’t be fooled. It tastes like crunchy marshmallow things paired with chewy marshmallow things (these are ACTUAL marshmallows) with a dusting of marshmallow. I was a little disappointed. The little marshmallows taste similar to Lucky Charms. I wouldn’t recommend you snack on them with dental work. But yet I enjoyed it more every time I grabbed a handful. I couldn’t stop shoving it into my Peephole.

Structural Integrity

This is a novelty cereal. You get the idea right away that WAY more thought when into the concept and marketing than the actual product inside the box. Despite that, Peeps holds up remarkably well in milk! The texture of the marshmallows (why isn’t it spelled marshmellows?!) is much better in milk. And much like an actual Peep left unwrapped for more than 20 minutes, the O-shapes maintain an impressive state of rigidity. I can’t speak to the quality of the cereal milk. That grosses me out. The only time I want food floating in my beverage is when it’s a lime in my margarita.

Cereal Concept

Peeps used to be around just for Easter. That’s one of the things that made them so much fun. Now there are holiday versions for Valentine’s Day, Halloween and even Christmas. How else could they cash in on the stretchy concoction’s Peep-ularity? Ah yes, cereal. It works. I couldn’t resist it and since it’s only available in a family-sized box, you better hope you like it if it’s an impulse buy. It’s adorable. There’s also a Candyland-like board game on the back, complete with some Easter punnies, such as “I’m a real Peep-le person.” I’m a mom who loves dad jokes, so I’m all in on the box.

Flavor

Peeps has more marshmallow flavor than the Stay Puft marshmallow man at a Girl Scouts campfire cookout.

Despite the lack of variety, it’s not overly sweet once you get past the initial fragrance. I went back to add more to my bowl on more than one occasion (cause no WAY I’m drinking the cereal milk) and my kids put down two bowls at every sitting. My oldest, Thomas, is definitely a fan. I guess you could call him a Peeping Tom.

Final Thoughts

It’s been a long winter and Peeps hatched at just the right time to fill our bowls with something bright and fun. It’s all about the novelty, but the contents of that candy-colored box could definitely be worse. No need to keep it around for more than the Easter season, but if you’re on the hunt for some Peep thrills, pop some in your basket.

Pass the Mimosas, We Have Chicken and Waffles Cereal

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Have you ever eaten a handful of Gardetto’s snacks and asked yourself, “self, I wonder what these would taste like in a bowl of milk?” Well, Post Cereals helped answer that question with its latest shocking cereal concoction… kind of.  Let’s dig into the review of Chicken & Waffles cereal.

Aesthetics

You’ve surely heard someone describe something as being a “cluster,” right? Well, Chicken & Waffles cereal is just that. It really shouldn’t be a surprise, since the base of the cereal is what you’d find in a typical box of Honey Bunches of Oats. However, I mainly give the aesthetics of the cereal a four-spoon rating because it includes Waffle Crisp, a cereal that was discontinued by Post.

Added to the mix of puffy Waffle Crisp, flakes and oats is little brown pieces that resemble chicken legs. Don’t worry no chickens were harmed in the making of the cereal. At least that’s what the box claims. Speaking of the cereal box (that folks is what we call a segue), it’s a basic design that gives off a retro vibe. Sometimes less is more and I think that’s the case here. Let the cereal inside the box do the talking and don’t get too cute with the packaging. (I’m looking at you Caticorn. You let us down with the lack of glitter you promised.)

Snackability

My short answer is Chicken & Waffles cereal is far better being snacked on dry than eaten in a bowl of milk. Like I mentioned in the opening paragraph, it’s like eating a handful of party mix. Try it and then tell me I’m wrong. I dare you.

Structural Integrity

Much like Honey Bunches of Oats, this variety also doesn’t fare well after a few minutes in milk. I expected the flakes to get soggy easily, but I was disappointed in how quickly the Waffle Crisp pieces fell to the same fate. So, when it comes to devouring a bowl of this cereal, much like using a public restroom at a gas station, get in and get out as quick as possible or you’ll end up with even more regret.

Cereal Concept

I like chicken and waffles on its on as brunch food, but I had never entertained the idea of Chicken & Waffles as a cereal. Kudos to Post Cereals for finding a lane in the cereal world by introducing wild concepts in recent months. They company is responsible for bringing us Sour Patch Kids, and Hostess Donettes and Hostess Honey Buns cereals.

Flavor

The savory flavors come from the onion and garlic powders with notes of maple syrup flavoring. (That’s right, “notes” doesn’t just have to be used to describe aromas of wine.) And while those powders sound awful in cereal, they aren’t bad and give the cereal just the right amount of subtle spice. Once the cereal is in milk, the flavor is toned down even more. If you’re expecting it to taste like chicken and waffles, you’ll be let down. However, if you really expected that then this may be your first venture into the world of artificially-flavored foods. The chicken pieces are almost there for novelty’s sake. It may not taste like chicken and waffles, but this cereal has solid flavor, especially eaten dry.

Final Thoughts

To celebrate National Cereal Day on March 7, Post Cereals graced us with two limited edition cereals under its Honey Bunches of Oats moniker: Chicken and Waffles and Maple Bacon Donuts. They are continuing to capitalize on the whacky cereal concept, with Sour Patch Kids cereal being my least favorite to date. With Chicken & Waffles cereal, I didn’t have any grand expectations of it. I wasn’t expecting it to taste just like the actual food. I was more interested in seeing how they’d create something that would taste somewhat similar. What we got was something savory and an altered form of Honey Bunches of Oats. So, if you’re a fan of that cereal with a hint of party mix then this cereal will be right up your aisle. So give it a try, if you find it at a Walmart near you. And trust me…

Is Caticorn the Purrfect Cereal?

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Yes, I ate my cereal out of a food storage container this morning, because all my other bowls were dirty. Don’t judge me!

Did you ever wonder what would happen if you crossed a cat with a unicorn and then derived Caticorn names from that? Me neither, but here I am, Sassy Snuggle Puss. Caticorn is the latest limited edition cereal by Kellog’s, and is exclusively available at Sam’s Club. Is Caticorn ceral purrfect, or is it just a marketing ploy? Let’s dig into the review, right…

Aesthetics

The packaging of the cereal is where Caticorn really shines and is definitely the cat’s meow. (that’s still a saying used by cool kids, right?) The vibrant purple box adorned with sparkles and a rainbow with a cartoon Caticorn that looks straight out of a new-age cartoon is attention-grabbing. But wait, there’s more. On the back of the box is a where they encourage you to color your very own Caticorn. If that wasn’t enough, the side of the box includes an index of how to determine your Caticorn name. As for the cereal itself, it’s basically the same size and texture as what you’d expect from Fruit Loops or Apple Jacks, which makes sense since both are also Kellog’s products. If you take anything away from this review, just know this: Caticorn cereal is basically the illegitimate child of Fruit Loops and Apple Jacks.

Snackability

Caticorn cereal is a pretty good choice if you enjoy a handful of dry cereal every now and then. It has a hint of sweet berry flavor (think Franken Berry) with the right amount of crunch. However, push-come-to-shove, I’m taking Fruit Loops or Apple Jacks dry over these.

Structural Integrity

The structural integrity of this cereal in milk is where Caticorn fails. I’m not sure if the cereal is fluffier than others, but it seems to absorb and take on the milk faster than the ship in the Titanic movie took on water.

Side note, I still don’t understand why Jack was hanging on the door in the frigid water. There was enough room on that door for him and Rose both and we know the door would have floated if they had used their lifejackets underneath the door. But I digress. Fruit Loops and Apple Jacks have the same issue with becoming soggy in milk faster than most cereals, but Caticorn seems to take it up a notch.

Cereal Concept

I’m ranking the concept as four spoons, because the fact you can come up with a cereal based off a Caticorn and get people to buy it deserves some credit. As for the rest of the cereal concept, it’s nothing fancy. Just standard flavored rings that float in your cereal bowl.

Flavor

The taste of Caticorn cereal isn’t bad. You get the whiff of its berry flavor right when you open the pouch of cereal, but it’s not overpowering and doesn’t taste too sweet, at least to me. To me, it tastes like an artificial strawberry flavor when you eat the cereal. I was able to eat two bowls of it without a problem, but the after taste it leaves in your mouth sticks with you for a bit, if you don’t brush your teeth right away or chew some gum.

Final Thoughts

Caticorn is a novelty cereal at best. The cereal itself isn’t groundbreaking and isn’t new tasting. Where the cereal shines is in the packaging, name and the overall fun idea of it. The cereal was fun enough that I was able to get a few coworkers on board with using their Caticorn names on their cubicle nameplates. However, the thing I am most disappointed with about the cereal is that the box promotes the cereal to have “glittery sparkles.” The cereal had specks of color, but it certainly didn’t glitter, shimmer or shine.

What are your thoughts on Caticorn cereal? Is it too weird, or would you give it a try? Thanks for stopping by the Cereal Aisle!

*Note: no cats or unicorns were harmed in the making of the cereal or its review.

Donuts in a bowl? Why not?

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What do you get when you combine two breakfast treats into one bowl? Pure, sugar dusted bliss. Donut pass up on trying this cereal. I’ll explain as we dig into a bowl of Post x Hostess donates powdered mini donuts cereal.

Aesthetics

I applaud the continuity of the traditional Hostess donettes branding colors and packaging look transferred onto the cereal box. Also, the photo on the back of the box makes it feel like you’re far more classier and eating a cereal that won’t spike your sugar intake for the day.

As for the cereal itself, it’s basically the same size and texture as what you’d expect from Fruit Loops. Instead of fruity flavor, the cereal is dusted with powdered sugar, making it look like your cereal has been sitting in a room that just had drywall hung on an episode of Fixer Upper.

Snackability

One areas where I think this cereal excels is snackability. It’s like eating a dry, crunchy donut, but in a good way, if that makes sense? I could easily see myself eating a handful of this cereal dry as a snack, or if you’ve been drinking late one weekend evening and are hungry then this might satisfy. The only thing I will warn you about is what I mentioned in the previous category. If you eat this cereal dry, your fingers will be coated in the powder

Okay, so this isn’t the same white powder as I refer to, but any chance you can use a Scarface gif you weave it in.

Structural Integrity

This is a decently solid cereal. If you eat it in a reasonable amount of time, (if it takes you more than a few minutes to eat a bowl of cereal, are you even doing it right?) then this cereal will have that perfect amount of satisfying crunch. I did find that it stayed more crunchy in milk than Apple Jacks, for example.

Cereal Concept

I’m guilty of grabbing a sleeve of Hostess donettes at a convenience store every once in a while, so when Post announced this cereal it seemed like a no-brainer for me. At this point, I’m pretty sure cereal companies are just thinking: what can we combine and make it into a cereal? (i.e. similar to how Taco Bell derives its new menu items, I’m guessing.)

Flavor

While I was skeptical of how they would get it to taste like powdered donuts, they succeeded. (Granted it doesn’t taste like a fresh powdered donut, but more like the ones you’d buy by this brand in a sleeve or bag.) The cereal is pretty sweet tasting, as you would expect. Milk helps tone that sweetness down a tad bit, but not to the level of leaving it tasting like a bland Cheerio.

Final Thoughts

I was pleasantly surprised by Hostess donettes powdered mini donuts cereal. It checks off all the boxes I arbitrarily make in my head for what makes a cereal a good cereal. From concept execution, snackability and flavor. If I had an award for newcomer cereal of the year, this one would have been nominated in 2018. I have no problem recommending this cereal to others. However, I recommend you eat no more than two bowls of it in one sitting. Anything beyond that and …

What do you think of Hostess donettes cereal? Have you tried it? Thanks for stopping by the Cereal Aisle!

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Churros is a Workout

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I was doing my best to pace myself with trying cereals, since I’m only one person. However, after numerous people tagged me on Facebook and Twitter, asking me if I have tried Cinnamon Toast Crunch Churros, I knew I had to give the people what they wanted… a somewhat serious review with some colorful comparisons and analogies. Well, I just finished a bowl and I’m here to tell you my thoughts. Let’s dig in.

Aesthetics

I’ll admit that the box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch Churros is certainly eye catching with its vibrant purple box, combined with the familiar Cinnamon Toast Crunch brand colors of purple, blue, red and green. Now, getting to the cereal itself, each piece certainly resembles a mini churro with a light dusting of cinnamon and sugar. On packaging and cereal itself, I think General Mills did a solid job.

Snackability 

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Churros is good for snacking, but be mindful that the cereal is pretty dense and crunchy, so small children might struggle with eating this cereal dry or in milk. People complain about Cap’n Crunch being rough, I’d say Churros cereal is up there. It’s not as roof-of-your-mouth scraping like trying to remove an old popcorn ceiling, but it’s rough nonetheless. Would it be my first choice of cereal to throw in a baggie and eat on my way to work, because I’m an adult who sucks at taking time to make an adequate breakfast? No. However, it would work in a pinch.

Structural Integrity

Remember above where I said the cereal is dense and crunchy? This Churros cereal is nothing like a typical churro that is fluffy, almost flaky even. This Churros cereal is far more compact, which is good if it’s sitting in milk, because it will take longer to become soggy. However, at times I felt like I was eating little, round logs or retaining wall blocks for a gingerbread house, instead of a nice, hollow, crispy churro.

Cereal Concept

When I first heard about Cinnamon Toast Crunch Churros I thought, “how much different tasting can it be?” While I give credit for appealing to our love of churros, the cereal was basically the same as Cinnamon Toast Crunch. It’s CT Crunch if you could roll the classic square piece of cereal like an Amigo’s crisp meat burrito and called it a churro. Side note, who’s all hungry for Amigo’s now?

Flavor

The flavor of Cinnamon Toast Crunch Churros should be a familiar one if you like regular CT Crunch. Cinnamon and sugar are always good flavors in my opinion, but in moderation. So is this Churros cereal just a money grab to gain eyeballs and mouths on this cereal? Yes. If anything, the shape of the Churros cereal seemed to allow runoff of the cinnamon and sugar dusting. As I took each bite, especially after it had been in the milk for a little bit, I thought about adding more cinnamon and sugar myself.

Final Thoughts

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Churros is a fun cereal in name, but otherwise it’s basically the original CT Crunch. The key difference to me is the shape of the Churros cereal and how crunchy it is, instead of a fluffy air crisp churro. It was difficult at times to get good bites of cereal off the spoon because of the volume of the pieces. With this cereal, I think your jaw is going to get a workout to the point that it may get tiresome. However, if you have a big mouth then this might not be an issue. Overall, it’s a fun novelty cereal, but I think I’ll stick with regular Cinnamon Toast Crunch for the sake of my jaw (or Sugar Cookie Crunch during holiday season).   

Have you tried Cinnamon Toast Crunch Churros? If so, what was it about it that you enjoyed most? Thanks for stopping by the Cereal Aisle!

Chocolate Lucky Charms | Magically Delicious?

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Welcome to another edition of Joe (yours truly) takes on another bowl that threatens diabetes. In this review, Chocolate Lucky Charms is under the taste test. I’m sure most of you have had the original Lucky Charms, so the premise of this version is similar, except with chocolatey flavor. In fact, the box even says “Chocolately Whole Grain Cereal With Marshmallows.” However, I will say my box of cereal was a little light on the marshmallows. Before we dive into the review, if nothing else, this cereal wins for most words on a box, “Chocolate Lucky Charms. Now with Magical Unicorn Marshmallows.” Think of it as an eye exam to test if diabetes is affecting your vision yet.

Aesthetics

I’m torn when it comes to this category for Chocolate Lucky Charms. The packaging is eye catching with use of the brown box that provides a sharp contract to the vibrant, dare I say, magical colors. Plus, there’s a majestic unicorn on the box. (I’ll let you decide which is more mythical: the unicorn or the leprechaun.) However, I can’t get past the fact that the morsels of whole grain look like pieces of dry cat food to me. For that reason, I couldn’t give it a higher rating than 3 spoons in aesthetics.

Snackability 

Chocolate Lucky Charms, or Lucky Charms in general, isn’t one of the best snackable cereals in my opinion. Without milk, it just tastes really dry or overly sweet, depending on how many marshmallows are in your handful. Perhaps kids will enjoy this cereal dry, but for me the taste of cocoa was a bit overpowering when eating this dry. Plus, I can’t stress again how much the chocolate pieces of this cereal remind me of cat food. It’s bad enough they make dog treats that look like real cookies (it may have fooled me once), but leave my cereals alone!

Structural Integrity

Surprisingly, structural integrity of Chocolate Lucky Charms is pretty good. I credit that to the minimal surface area of each piece of cereal, as well as the fact that the marshmallows are small and dense enough (like those heart-shaped Valentine’s candies). Unlike cereals such as Life, Frosted Flakes, or even Fruit Loops, these little pieces of cocoa-flavored sweetness avoid getting soggy too quick. However, that could also depend on how fast you eat your cereal. If you are too slow then of course it’s going to be a mushy pile of bean bag filling in a bowl.

Cereal Concept

Lucky Charms on its own is arguably on the Mt. Rushmore of classic cereals. It’s a basic formula of adding whole grain cereal (to make it seem healthy) with a scoop of sugar shapes, instead of having to pour sugar onto the plain cereal like I used to on Cheerios. However, simply adding “chocolate” to change up the cereal is a far-to-basic move. Next time you’re in the cereal aisle at your local store, check out how many boxes have the word “chocolate” in them. It’s as basic as pumpkin spice is coffee. The old saying, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” applies to Lucky Charms. Updating the marshmallow shapes was a simple way to freshen up the cereal, but adding chocolate, or fruity Lucky Charms, or Frosted Flakes x Lucky Charms hasn’t seemed overly impressive.

Flavor

If you like the taste of chocolate cereal then Chocolate Lucky Charms is for you. For me, I can’t eat more than one bowl of it at a time. The chocolate/cocoa taste is still lingering on my tongue 45 minutes after I ate the cereal. In fact, the chocolate even seems to overtake the sweetness usually tasted from the marshmallows. If you enjoy drinking cereal milk that’s left in the bowl after you’ve eaten all the pieces, you may enjoy the chocolate flavor that’s transferred into the milk.

Final Thoughts

Chocolate Lucky Charms is good, but not groundbreaking or a cereal I would buy boxes of regularly. As mentioned earlier, General Mills has a good thing going with the regular formula of Lucky Charms. I will admit though that I’ve never been a huge fan of chocolate cereals, as the after taste lingers too long and is typically all I taste when eating the cereal. It’s the same way I treat eating chocolate candy. I can do small moderations and that will hold me over for quite some time. With Chocolate Lucky Charms, I’m sure kids will enjoy it, because I remember at their age always being a sucker for anything chocolate. But, as an adult eating Chocolate Lucky Charms with magical unicorn marshmallows, (yes, I see the irony in that statement), it might take you a while to finish a box of this cereal by yourself. 

Let me know in the comment section below if you’ve tried Chocolate Lucky Charms yet, what flavor of Lucky Charms would you like to see made? Thanks for stopping by the Cereal Aisle!